OutOfBreath wrote: But we weren't loved back then either, just as the Irish, Italians and Polish weren't at different times. I have seen a documentary about the slum "Little Norway" in NY in that period. Wasn't very nice.

Indeed, Richard Hofstadter, in Rendezvous with Destiny, talks about the economist Thorstein Veblen and remarks that when he was born, "Norski" was a racial epithet on a level with "Wop" and "Dago."

Speaking of the Veblens, the mathematician Oswald Veblen (the first mathematician to give a valid proof of what is called the Jordan Curve Theorem) was a champion of taking in refugees from the Nazis in the 1930s and sent out lists of possible hires to mathematics departments all over the world. In this he was a strong contrast to his colleague, Garrett Birkhoff (I think it was Garrett rather than David---I ought to check that) who was upset when Solomon Lefschetz was selected as an officer of the American Mathematical Society. Birkhoff said Lefschetz would promote the interests of Jewish mathematicians, who would displace Gentiles. That was sheer nonsense of course, as being Jewish meant nothing to Lefschetz. I knew him slightly and I knew his last PhD student quite well; said student was the son of an unrepentant Nazi who had fled to Latin America, and the student was a virulent Nazi himself. So much for Birkhoff's fears.

But I ramble. Bad sign on a Saturday morning, with snow falling outside my window.

Edit: It was NOT Garrett Birkhoff, it was his father, George David Birkhoff, whom Einstein called "one of the world's great anti-semites."

Second edit: Now that I think of it, the Nazi student had been in Lefschetz's classes at the University of Mexico and was recommended to Princeton by Lefschetz. However, he finished his PhD with a different professor, who was a friend of mine, a nice guy, and not a Nazi, so I won't name him.

Last edited by Upton_O_Goode on Sat Jan 13, 2018 1:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

Upton_O_Goode wrote:According to Durbin, Graham was there and remonstrated with Trump about that. How much would you gamble on Graham's integrity? Will any journalist be gauche enough to just ASK THE {!#%@} QUESTION of him?

Graham kind of danced around it without being specific about anything. Still, it WAS a closed meeting, and it was, I suppose, rude of Durbin to violate the norms for such meetings. Graham would have been within his rights to say "no comment." That he didn't is itself significant. It means he knew that nearly everybody except Fox News would believe Durbin (with more than amble grounds to do so, of course). So, he needed to allude to the controversy without naming it. But it also puts the final nail in the coffin of any residual doubt that Trump said it and then lied about it later. Graham COULD have denied what Durbin said. It wouldn't be any violation of the rules to say that something WASN'T said at the meeting. And Graham definitely chose not to do that.

To any rational president, this would count as the best support he could reasonably expect from Graham. But it probably won't be for Trump. He won't be satisfied by anything except denial from the other people in the room. So, let's see how many of them will be willing to Walk the Plank for Donald.

1.?

2.?

...

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

And now Joe Arpaio is running for the Senate on a birther platform. Are these people obsessed? What is WRONG with their brains? Suppose Obama was a Kenya-born Muslim. How would that make Joe Arpaio anything other than the pile of {!#%@} that he is?

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

Yup, and the man who sells Chevrolets assures me that the Chevrolet is the world's best car.

But Trump is the healthiest president ever. People are amazed about how healthy he is. Everyone is talking about it. They've never seen anything like that level of health before in a president.

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

I've only been to Africa once in my life, and I didn't shoot a single animal whilst there. I went for work, for several days. Our challenge was how to provide mobile content to a population which was made up of at least eight language/ethnic groups and which had only spotty adoption of smart phones. Mostly, it was a very nice place although some parts of the city I visited reminded me of rougher neighborhoods in Chicago or Aberdeen WA or Elyria OH or central PA or WV.

You know, my dear Colonel General, I don't really believe that the Russians will attack at all. It's all an enormous bluff. - Heinrich Himmler to Heinz Guderian, December 1944

December 21, 1949 (celebration of Stalin's 70th birthday, which had been three days earlier):

Andrei Vyshinsky wrote:Not only Stalin's military genius, but also Stalin's genius as an economist was the source and guarantee...of the Great Victory...

The greatest scientist and thinker, the greatest organizer of state socialist construction in any role, be it economic, political, cultural or military: a genius of legislation and diplomacy, at law and warfare, at art and criticism!

plus c'est la même chose...

December 20, 2017:

Michael Pence wrote:Congratulations and thank you. Thank you for seeing through the course of this year an agenda that truly is restoring this country.

You've restored American credibility on the world stage. We're standing with our allies, we're standing up to our enemies.

You signed more bills rolling back federal red tape than any president in American history. You've unleashed American energy. You've spurred an optimism in this country that's setting records.

I'm deeply humbled as your vice president to be able to be here. Because of your leadership and because of the strong support of the leadership of the Congress, you're delivering on that middle class miracle.

I want to thank you Mr President. I want to thank you for speaking on behalf of and fighting every day for the forgotten men and women of America.

Such a pity that Pence missed Trump's contribution to airline safety, forcing this painfully shy, modest man, to point it out himself.

Last edited by Upton_O_Goode on Sat Jan 13, 2018 6:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

Anybody who has been to a bar knows the type. Blowhards bloviating about the way the world ought to be run, pig ignorant and absolutely certain that they know more than the professionals who actually have experience at the job.

"When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts."

Anybody who has been to a bar knows the type. Blowhards bloviating about the way the world ought to be run, pig ignorant and absolutely certain that they know more than the professionals who actually have experience at the job.

And one of these blowhards currently sits atop the most powerful state the world has known . . .

You know, my dear Colonel General, I don't really believe that the Russians will attack at all. It's all an enormous bluff. - Heinrich Himmler to Heinz Guderian, December 1944

Anybody who has been to a bar knows the type. Blowhards bloviating about the way the world ought to be run, pig ignorant and absolutely certain that they know more than the professionals who actually have experience at the job.

And one of these blowhards currently sits atop the most powerful state the world has known . . .

But in a way it does make some of his comments appear not as mean-spirited as they sound (and which I think they are, he is a jerk), but simply as Upton said - pig-ignorant.